Main Street West is pictured above at Main Street Oak Ridge on Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The city’s acceptance of three rebuilt roads at Main Street Oak Ridge triggered $1.5 million in funding for the public improvement work.

The Oak Ridge City Council unanimously agreed to accept the roads—Main Street East, Main Street West, and Wilson Street—in a 7-0 vote on Monday, November 13.

The developer, TN Oak Ridge Rutgers LLC, which is affiliated with RealtyLink of Greenville, South Carolina, has certified $1.84 million worth of public improvements to the three roads. Most of that, or $1.28 million of it, was for asphalt, base, earthwork, demolition, storm and “wet utilities,” among other work, according to a letter to Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson from Manager Phillip J. Wilson.

The next largest portion of the costs, roughly $320,000, was for electrical work. There were also land costs of $179,000, according to Wilson’s letter to Watson. [Read more…]

Anderson County High School student Doug Stooksbury works on equipment at Roane State’s Higher Education and Workforce Training Facility in Clinton. His tuition for his final semester of dual enrollment mechatronics instruction was funded through a grant provided by employees of Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, the contractor that operates the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. (Photo by Roane State)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

CLINTON—High school students in the dual enrollment mechatronics program at Roane State Community College received a final-semester financial boost, thanks to a grant from employees of Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC.

Those employees of CNS—the contractor that operates the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge—last year awarded a $10,000 grant to underwrite the Spring 2017 tuition for mechatronics students in Oak Ridge, Clinton, and Anderson County high schools. The grant was awarded through the CNS Community Investment Fund.

The Community Investment Fund provides thousands of dollars to local nonprofits. Y-12 employees work with the East Tennessee Foundation to award the grants through a competitive grant process.

In the mechatronics program, high school students take courses in maintaining and improving automated machines and robots used by many of today’s manufacturers, said Gordon Williams, director of Roane State’s mechatronics program. [Read more…]

An overall view of the proposed renovation of Blankenship Field and Jack Armstrong Stadium. (File image from April 2015)

Oak Ridge has received a state grant of just under $500,000 that will be used primarily for synthetic turf at Blankenship Field. But it is also expected to help pay for track improvements, upgraded restrooms, fencing between the football field and track, and improvements to the Cedar Hill trailhead behind the visitors bleachers at Jack Armstrong Stadium, city officials said Thursday.

The Local Parks and Recreation Fund grant requires a 50 percent match. The match is supposed to be provided by the nonprofit Blankenship Field Revitalization Foundation, and it can be a mix of cash and in-kind contributions, although the precise percentage of each—cash versus in-kind contributions—isn’t clear yet. The foundation has been chaired by Tennessee Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the Senate Randy McNally.

Officials expect to know more after four of them—City Manager Mark Watson, City Council member Rick Chinn, Recreation and Parks Director Jon Hetrick, and Allen Thacker of Oak Ridge Schools—attend mandatory grant training in Nashville in February.

After that, the Oak Ridge City Council could accept the grant, possibly as early as the February 13 meeting. [Read more…]

Keep Anderson County Beautiful, or KACB, is the recipient of a 2016 Keep America Beautiful/Lowe’s Community Partners $20,000 grant. In mid-December, Keep Anderson County Beautiful said it is building an outdoor chess board at Robertsville Middle School as part of the grant. (Photo by Keep Anderson County Beautiful via Facebook)

Keep Anderson County Beautiful, or KACB, is the recipient of a 2016 Keep America Beautiful/Lowe’s Community Partners $20,000 grant, a press release said. Keep Anderson County Beautiful announced on its Facebook page that it has building an outdoor chess board at Robertsville Middle School as part of the grant.

The KACB grant is being used to improve the landscaping at Robertsville Middle School, the press release said. The goal is to develop a pleasant campus with shade structures, benches, picnic tables, trees, and other vegetation.

In mid-December, Keep Anderson County Beautiful, a nonprofit, volunteer organization, announced on its Facebook page that it is building an outdoor chess board at Robertsville Middle School as part of the grant.

This is part of the first phase in a larger plan to make RMS a center of outdoor community activity, to enhance the students’ day-to-day lives, and to improve the campus by giving it a more park-like atmosphere and additional recreational sports areas, the press release said. [Read more…]

Willow Brook Elementary School is pictured above in May 2012. (File photo)

Willow Brook Elementary School has received a grant from bestselling author James Patterson to support its school library. In addition, Scholastic Reading Club will match each dollar of Patterson’s donation with “bonus points” that teachers can use to acquire books and other materials for their classrooms.

Willow Brook was selected from among thousands of applications for funding grants. To learn more, listen to Patterson’s exclusive interview about the critical need for school libraries on the “Scholastic Reads” podcast.

Patterson and Scholastic Reading Club announced in March that Patterson would donate $1.75 million to save school libraries nationwide in the second installment of his School Library Campaign. As part of an ongoing effort to keep books and reading a number one priority in the United States, selected school libraries will be receiving grants ranging from $1,000 to $10,000. Since the grant program’s launch in 2015, Patterson has donated $3.5 million to school libraries nationwide, with all funds are being personally donated by Patterson. [Read more…]

State officials and local leaders joined Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties in Oak Ridge on Thursday afternoon to help cut the ribbon on a newly renovated home located in the city’s Highland View neighborhood.

The formerly blighted and vacant home was rehabilitated with the help of a $67,410 Housing Trust Fund grant the Tennessee Housing Development Agency awarded ADFAC in 2015. ADFAC obtained the property on Wainwright Road through a donation.

THDA Executive Director Ralph Perrey told those attending the ribbon cutting that it was important for the state to recognize innovative work being done to improve access to affordable housing.

“This project is exactly the kind of work that our Housing Trust Fund grant program was created to assist,” Perrey said. “We are glad to work with partners like ADFAC who continue to have a positive impact on the communities they serve.” [Read more…]

Roane State Community College has received a $2 million federal grant to support student success initiatives.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Strengthening Institutions grant will fund various projects to help students plan their academic goals and achieve them. The $2,013,554 grant will be distributed over five years, with the first installment of $446,493 this fall.

“My role on the House Appropriations Committee allows me to take an active role in securing funding for vital grants such as this,” said Congressman Chuck Fleischmann. “I’m proud to help support Roane State Community College in their work to prepare students for successful careers.”

Grant-funded initiatives will include the purchase of class scheduling software and the addition of more Success Coaches to work one-on-one with students. [Read more…]

Through the help of the St. Mary’s Legacy Foundation, St. Mary’s School in Oak Ridge is now the first diocesan school to offer “one-to-one” technology. The school used a grant of $29,200 to install wireless infrastructure and purchase dozens of Chromebooks to fulfill the goal of providing a Chromebook for every student in grades 1-8. (Submitted photo)

St. Mary’s School now a one-to-one school thanks to grant from St. Mary’s Legacy Foundation

Through the help of the St. Mary’s Legacy Foundation, St. Mary’s School in Oak Ridge is now the first diocesan school to offer “one-to-one” technology. The school used a grant of $29,200 to install wireless infrastructure and purchase dozens of Chromebooks to fulfill the goal of providing a Chromebook for every student in grades 1-8.

The St. Mary’s Legacy Foundation also awarded a second grant of $11,765 to replace the outdated and unrepairable public address system in the school.

On May 4, Bishop Richard F. Stika; Sister Mary Marta Abbott, diocesan superintendent of schools; and Terry Frank, Anderson County mayor were among several guests who attended the celebration, a press release said. The event began with a tour of the school to see how students use the Chromebooks in the classroom, from spelling games in first grade to experiments in the middle school science lab. [Read more…]

Jefferson Middle School is one of 20 recipients this year of a Shape the State grant that includes the highly touted SPARK curriculum and its accompanying equipment for physical education courses. The grant includes an additional $1,000 for desired improvements to the wellness/nutrition/PE program.

Jefferson Middle School PE teachers will receive curriculum training on-site on September 19 and 20.

Robertsville Middle School received a similar grant last year, so this year’s grant will ensure all Oak Ridge middle school PE teachers have had the opportunity for the training, a press release said. [Read more…]

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider applying for a state grant worth up to $500,000 to install synthetic turf at Blankenship Field. Pictured above, Oak Ridge junior wide receiver Tee Higgins (5) hauls in a catch near the left sideline during a 45-6 win over Campbell County on Blankenship Field on Friday, Oct. 30, 2015. (File photo by Julio Culiat)

The application that City Council will consider is a Local Parks and Recreation Fund grant from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. The grant requires a 50 percent match, which would be provided by the nonprofit Blankenship Field Revitalization Foundation. The requested grant funding could range between $250,000 and $500,000.

The Local Parks and Recreation Fund, or LPRF, grant provides state funding for parks and recreation development and capital projects, said Jon Hetrick, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks director. It requires the facility to be maintained as a public recreational facility and open to the public. Grant reports must be filed with the state every five years to document ongoing use as a public recreational facility. [Read more…]

New landscaping is in the foreground and the interactive fountain is in the background at Jackson Square as construction continued on the $1 million parking lot renovation on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The $1 million renovation of the Jackson Square parking lot continued Thursday, with the goal of finishing the project in time for Taste of Anderson County on Saturday.

Construction started in January on what has turned into one of the most closely watched projects in Oak Ridge. Work is funded with help from a $741,609 Tennessee Department of Transportation Enhancement Grant that was awarded to the city in June 2012. The TDOT grant covers 80 percent of the work, and it requires a 20 percent city match.

The work is reported to be the first major renovation at Jackson Square in 70 years. It includes a landscaped pedestrian plaza with parking, an interactive fountain, stone pavers, curbing, asphalt paving, utilities, benches, sidewalks, and upgrades under the American with Disabilities Act. [Read more…]